Lama Zopa Rinpoche has been admitted to hospital, the medical staff have confirmed that Rinpoche has had a stroke and temporally lost some of the movement of his right side and his speech is impaired.

The hospital have requested that Rinpoche stay for a few days to observe and monitor him to ensure there are no further complications.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been informed of Rinpoche’s situation and high Lamas close to Rinpoche are doing pujas as well as Kopan Monastery.

Apart from Rinpoche’s right side and speech being affected, Rinpoche seems in good humor and is doing his prayers in the hospital (altar is set up with prayer wheel, thanka and texts)

Regarding practices – at this time the main practice is Medicine Buddha puja and to recite the mantras of the Long Life Deities such as White Tara and Amitayus.

Specifically I am requesting if Centers could organize extensive Medicine Buddha pujas or Medicine Buddha practice with many offerings and to do strong prayers for Rinpoche’s health and long life at this time.

Abandoning Dharma is, in the final analysis, disparaging the Hinayana because of the Mahayana; favoring the Hinayana on account of the Mahayana; playing off sutra against tantra; playing off the four classes of the tantras against each other; favoring one of the Tibetan schools—the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, or Nyingma—and disparaging the rest; and so on. In other words, we abandon Dharma any time we favor our own tenets and disparage the rest.

Hear our prayer, O Lama whom we revere, you who bear our name.Of he who peerlessly holds the living essence of the pure,Paradigmatic doctrine of the Conquerors,Of he a lone adornment of the earth,Of he a guide to sublime liberation—the sphere of space.

The moon of your Mahayana-mind, ringed-roundBy the fever-cooling camphor of your unsullied, unsurpassed resolve,Brilliantly swirls to the bounds of space.Unbounded seas of happiness of now and bliss of always;Lama, remain immutably amongst us—a moon guiding our way.

By the mighty of seas of spiritual masters, deities and doctrine protectors,By the power of profound dependent-arising,And the unvarying emptiness of all that appears,May all the hopes of our prayersWith effortless ease, spontaneously be fulfilled.

Requested by Geshe Konchog Kyab on behalf of the students of Thubten Kunga Center, Florida, USAComposed by Choden Rinpoche on the fifteenth day of the month of Saga Dawa, 2000.Translated into English by Jampa Gendun.

Abandoning Dharma is, in the final analysis, disparaging the Hinayana because of the Mahayana; favoring the Hinayana on account of the Mahayana; playing off sutra against tantra; playing off the four classes of the tantras against each other; favoring one of the Tibetan schools—the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, or Nyingma—and disparaging the rest; and so on. In other words, we abandon Dharma any time we favor our own tenets and disparage the rest.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche entered hospital on Saturday 23rd April, now is the second day under observation. Yesterdays cat scan showed no bleeding or clot in the brain. There will be another scan to confirm that. Possibly Rinpoche will be able to leave the hospital tomorrow if doctors say ok.

Rinpoche's right arm and leg have lost some use, speech is slurred making it difficult to understand him, but this part got a little better today.Doctors say Rinpoche will need intensive therapy for His right side and speech Hopefully to regain all or most use back. This can take several months but difficult to say.

Rinpoche's tour in Australia and Indonesia as well as his return to Nepal will have to be cancelled.

This is the advice for practices that can be done, as advised by Khadro la and Choden Rinpoche:

1. Medicine Buddha puja ... with extensive offerings.2. 4 Mandala offering to Tara ... as many as possible.3. Most Secret Hayagriva mantra with below prayer as much as possible:

Supplication to the Deity Hayagriva:

Your pure triple faces are adorned with skull ornaments of five Buddha familiesSix limbs are holding weapons in the mudra of accomplishing siddhisIn the aspect of great bliss with highly raised dignified horse headI pay supplication to you the holy and powerful deity

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has been admitted to hospital, the medical staff have confirmed that Rinpoche has had a stroke and temporally lost some of the movement of his right side and his speech is impaired.The hospital have requested that Rinpoche stay for a few days to observe and monitor him to ensure there are no further complications. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been informed of Rinpoche’s situation and high Lamas close to Rinpoche are doing pujas as well as Kopan Monastery.

Apart from Rinpoche’s right side and speech being affected, Rinpoche seems in good humor and is doing his prayers in the hospital (altar is set up with prayer wheel, thanka and texts)Regarding practices at this time the main practice is Medicine Buddha Puja and to recite the mantras of the Long Life Deities such as White Tara and Amitayus.Specifically I am requesting if Centers could organize extensive Medicine Buddha pujas or Medicine Buddha practice with many offerings and to do strong prayers for Rinpoche’s health and long life at this time.

April 26: We received the news that Khadro-la and Woser Rinpoche, a lama in Mongolia, have said that there are signs that on Wednesday, 27 April (Tsog Day) Rinpoche could have a second stroke. This is to be avoided at all costs. Another Khadroma has urgently and specifically advised the retreat participants here in Bendigo to do 100,000 Vajra Armor mantras and we will be starting them in 10 minutes:

What has been happeningOn Friday morning (April 22), about 7:00 am, Rinpoche left the prayer hall of Atisha Centre, Bendigo, Australia, after having completed the initial part of a Yamantaka initiation. He walked back to Shedrub Ling Monastery, a five minute walk through the eucalyptus forest, stopping, as usual, to bless every single insect along the path. I and Ven. Dechen from Malaysia, caught up with Rinpoche as he entered the gate to the monastery and as he turned off toward the building where he was staying we both noticed that His right foot seemed to have a slight limp.

That same day, at the beginning of the afternoon session at 3.30 pm, as Rinpoche started to talk I thought the audio wasn’t adjusted right as I was having difficulty understanding him. Then Rinpoche himself paused in mid-sentence, with a big smile on his face, to say: “Do you see the difference in my speech? You can hear it? Do you notice my speech changed? My speaking, do you see a change? That happened when I went out. This morning when I went out, I felt that outside. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone outside. That’s good for the self-cherishing thought, for the selfish mind. It is the opponent to harm, to destroy the self-cherishing thought.” However, after a couple of minutes Rinpoche started to speak more normally and continued with the preparation for the Yamantaka initiation for the next 3 hours.

After the session Rinpoche told Ven. Roger that as he left the gompa he suddenly felt a sensation on the left side of His forehead, and that something had tried to enter to cause harm. Rinpoche strongly insisted that he return to the gompa that evening to confer the initiation but he was equally strongly requested by Roger and Gyatso to rest and, in the end, did not return to the gompa.

That night Rinpoche and Ven. Roger called Khadro-la in Dharamsala who also informed His Holiness the Dalai Lama about what had happened.

The next morning, Saturday, 23 April, when Ven. Roger went to see Rinpoche in His room, Rinpoche's condition had worsened. His right arm and leg were not functioning well and Roger couldn't understand Rinpoche's speech at all. Rinpoche had to communicate by typing on His iPad.

Rinpoche initially refused to go to the hospital, but in the early afternoon finally consented to go and stay in the hospital after both His Holiness and Khadro-la insisted that Rinpoche receive Western medical treatment. He was able to walk very slowly without assistance to the car.

According to the initial MRI scan, neither bleeding nor a blood clot was found in the brain, but the doctors admitted Rinpoche to the hospital for more tests, as well as to observe Rinpoche's sugar level and blood pressure which were very high. A doctor, Alan Molloy, who is a student of Rinpoche’s came up from Melbourne and spoke to the doctor on Easter morning. That afternoon he reported to the participants at the teachings here in Australia that a thrombosis (blood clot) had lodged in the part of the brain that controls speech as well as part of the right face, arm, and leg. He said: “No quick recovery, Rinpoche needs intensive therapy and he may get better. He will need physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy intensively. He will also need the speech therapy to protect His airways, as He will have to learn to swallow again. If moisture gets into the lungs there is a real possibility of fatal pneumonia. Rinpoche is struggling to get His words out, as the connection between the meaning part of the brain and the part that forms sounds has been cut. His cognition is intact but the spoken words are not. He can still type. The scary bit is that it can occur again, unless he has exceptional care and strict compliance with Western medicine, which could indeed be life-saving. Being a 65 year old male with diabetes and high blood pressure, it is a degenerative disease/event that is quite common.”

On Monday, 25 April, Rinpoche was taken from the public hospital in Bendigo to a small private hospital. His speech had slightly improved and he was able to move his right leg slightly, whereas his right arm was not functioning. He, however, needs help with everything – walking, washing… He types messages on his iPad, typing a period between each word. His message to the retreat participants

His Holiness has checked, and it came out better for Rinpoche to continue to stay in Australia to receive Western medical treatments and the various intensive therapies.

Khadro-la has said she wants to come to Australia to help Rinpoche with the recovery. She said it is important that we act quickly and that she comes to help, and so Ven. Roger etc. are trying to sort out the visa issue for her. She also said that as far as she could see, there was no permanent brain damage.

Please EVERYONE also continue to do the practices that have been advised:- Medicine Buddha practice with extensive offerings - Tara Chittamani Four Mandala Puja- Hayagriva supplication and mantra- Long life deities mantras such as White Tara and Buddha Amitayus

Here in Australia we are fulfilling Rinpoche’s wishes by continuing to do four sessions a day with Eight Mahayana Precepts and Lama Chopa in the morning, followed by meditation or the reading of Khensur Jampa Tegchok’s commentary to Bodhisattvacharyavatara, in the afternoon we do the practices for Rinpoche’s long life (Medicine Buddha, Tara Chittamani, Vajra Armor), and in the evening we are doing Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, Protector Practices, and sutra recitations. The gompa is filled with beautiful offerings – lights, water bowls, flowers, food – and every holy object on the property has been surrounded by water bowls including the huge Padmasambhava statue in the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion.

Sorry to have taken so long to write this email but the days have been very busy here. Joan

In the land encircled by snow mountainsYou are the source of all happiness and good;All powerful Chenrezig, Tenzin Gyatso,Please remain until samsara ends.

Abandoning Dharma is, in the final analysis, disparaging the Hinayana because of the Mahayana; favoring the Hinayana on account of the Mahayana; playing off sutra against tantra; playing off the four classes of the tantras against each other; favoring one of the Tibetan schools—the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, or Nyingma—and disparaging the rest; and so on. In other words, we abandon Dharma any time we favor our own tenets and disparage the rest.

Rinpoche's still in hospital. Someone is always with him: either Vens. Roger, Holly or Sangpo. The results of the MRI came today, according to Dr. Ade of Thubten Shedrup Ling, the monastery where Rinpoche's been staying and which is on the same land as Atisha. It seems there is a small lesion on Rinpoche's brain that affects the speech. He said that other parts of the brain can take over to do the job needed, and already Rinpoche has started speech therapy. We're speculating about the possibility that Rinpoche will end up talking with an Australian accent now!

There are about 100 of us left at the retreat at Atisha Centre. We continue our schedule, even though the focus of our stay here in the Bendigo bush - the initiations and teachings of Lama Zopa Rinpoche - has shifted.

Khadrola from Dharamsala, says that there's danger tomorrow of another stroke. The instructions from another Dharamsala Khadrola - the former is referred to as the short Khadrola and the latter is known as the tall one! - were for us to recite, today, 100,000 of a particular mantra. We've just finished, and we managed 111,000.

Krissy Foulkes and her team continue cooking for Rinpoche over at the monastery, sending meals on wheels (the monastery's car) to the hospital. Apparently requests are coming from Rinpoche for his favorite Nepalese dishes - a good sign. On the fist day in hospital it was difficult for Rinpoche to eat anything. But they'll have to find another method of transportation for the moment because the car crashed at the hospital today.

Dr. Ade says that Rinpoche is likely to stay around for four or five months, to receive therapy. Ian Green of The Great Stupa, also on the same land, is looking for a house closer to town for Rinpoche. Things could change, of course, as Dr. Ade said, but this is it for the moment.

In the land encircled by snow mountainsYou are the source of all happiness and good;All powerful Chenrezig, Tenzin Gyatso,Please remain until samsara ends.

That may be more dependent on us then on Rinpoche. If we do not have enough merit for him to be able to transmit the teachings, the conditions for his life purpose will not be stable.

We should make sure our own vows are guarded and harmonious mind-state with each other exists.

I Agree people should recite Lama Zopa's Long life prayers. If anyone has any Samaya commitments with him now is the time to offer some extensive Long life version of the Lama chopa !

Abandoning Dharma is, in the final analysis, disparaging the Hinayana because of the Mahayana; favoring the Hinayana on account of the Mahayana; playing off sutra against tantra; playing off the four classes of the tantras against each other; favoring one of the Tibetan schools—the Sakya, Gelug, Kagyu, or Nyingma—and disparaging the rest; and so on. In other words, we abandon Dharma any time we favor our own tenets and disparage the rest.

This morning was an early start for Rinpoche. The physiotherapist came to his room at 9 a.m. sharp and began Rinpoche’s training, helping him to understand how he can get out of bed by himself and into a wheel chair with the minimum amount of help.

Then the two therapists and I (with Rinpoche in the wheelchair) went to the gym. Sangpo and I had dressed Rinpoche in his swimming shorts and singlet. (This is the first time ever Rinpoche has gone to the gym, in gym style clothes.)

Rinpoche spent about one hour in the gym and the therapists were quite surprised by how eager and fast he was in learning to reuse his right leg again. The therapists are mainly concentrating on the right leg moving (the right arm has no movement at all, but that will come later). In the gym session Rinpoche was mainly learning how to help himself get onto the wheel chair and off and back on to the bed, and some simple walking movements.

Rinpoche still is not able to walk unaided but the process has started. At the end of the session the doctor and the two therapists were quite pleased with Rinpoche’s first session in the gym and his progress. Tomorrow they want to Rinpoche to go in the hydro pool to start exercises there. Later today Rinpoche will have a session with the speech therapist and the occupational therapist.

Both the therapists were surprised by how much Rinpoche was laughing and joking through the session. Rinpoche commented to the therapists that he thinks his progress is partly due to the 3,000 monks in Sera Je doing prayers.

Love

roger

In the land encircled by snow mountainsYou are the source of all happiness and good;All powerful Chenrezig, Tenzin Gyatso,Please remain until samsara ends.